TOPIC: PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
Text: 1 Kings 8:44-53
8:44 When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name,
8:45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their [a]cause.
8:46 “When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;
8:47 yet when they [b]come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’;
8:48 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name:
8:49 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their [c]cause,
8:50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them
8:51 (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace),
8:52 that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.
8:53 For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
STUDY:
As we conclude Solomon’s prayer of dedication at the temple, we need to think of prayer as something we cannot live without. The importance of prayer as a means of communicating with God is emphasised here, highlighting the power of approaching God with humility. There is a confidence displayed by Solomon over what God is capable of doing in the temple. We must learn from this because God is more than able to take care of us.
Trusting God is the best we can do in our daily living.
In times of facing battles against the enemy, sin, or exile, we should remember that “If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name—then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause” (vv. 48 & 49). We are reminded of the need to pray continually (1 Thess. 5:17) and pray fervently (James 5:16). If we look up to God in everything by prayer, He is sure to help us out in everything.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, let your ears be open to my prayers. Please hear me when I call. Amen.
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